Making reading magical again,
one story at a time.
We're on a mission to grow a generation of Kiwis who love to read - and succeed because of it.
Some of our closest friends are passionate teachers who pour their hearts into their classrooms. It was easy to see that they want to connect deeply with their students, tailor learning to every child, and bring fun back to reading time, but they were all stretched thin.
They were buried under planning, marking, and reporting. Students stopped seeing stories as fun and started seeing them as assignments. And that magic moment, the one where you're completely lost in a story, started slipping away.
That's the problem we're tackling - giving teachers their time back, and encouraging students to fall in love with reading again.
We're three bilingual nerds from Auckland, Eddie, Jin, and Will, who want to bring that magic back. We grew up in Kiwi classrooms, met while building an app loved by thousands of students, and never stopped obsessing over how technology can make learning better. When AI burst onto the scene, it reignited that spark of curiosity and wonder we'd almost forgotten. If it could do that for us as adults, imagine what it could do for students.
ReadQuest is more than software - it's our way of giving back to the classrooms that shaped us. A labour of love, crafted in late-night bursts of inspiration and the belief that words can change worlds. It's our homegrown creation for teachers to build confident readers and make reading joyful again.
We smile when teachers can focus on what really matters - connecting with students, not copying and pasting worksheets. When a struggling reader lights up because a story finally feels like theirs - that moment is why we do this.
Reading shouldn't feel like a chore. It should feel like discovering a new world, one story at a time.
If you believe that too - you're one of us. Welcome to ReadQuest.
Who we are
Eddie Chae
There was a time I fell out of love with reading, as so many of us do.
For me, that moment came in Year 10 when I was forced to read Shakespeare - looking back, I think I was embarrassed that I couldn't understand what I was reading. It took years to rediscover the joy of reading (and learning) as an adult, and that experience sparked a realisation: reading becomes scary when it doesn't match our interests and ability.
This drives everything we do at ReadQuest. Along with my co-founders, I've spent over five years building educational tools for Kiwi students - from the #1 student discounts app that helped over 70,000 students, to online platforms that supported learners through COVID lockdowns.
But ReadQuest feels like our most important work yet.
I believe miscommunication is at the heart of most problems in life, and literacy forms the foundation of good communication. When kids can read confidently and express themselves clearly, they grow up able to share their ideas constructively with the world. That's why we're building ReadQuest – to make reading fun again for every Kiwi kid.
Will Kim
I grew up lost in stories. On the floor, in the car, up a tree - if there was a page, I was in another world. Books like Eragon, Alex Rider, and His Dark Materials didn't just entertain me; they taught me to imagine, to question, to dream.
That spark never really left. These days, I still chase that same feeling - the wonder that comes from learning something new or seeing the world differently. My favourite book, The Alchemist is my reminder to look for beauty in small, ordinary moments.
I believe education is the great equaliser, and literacy is where it begins. When a child learns to read with confidence, they start to believe in their own potential - and that changes everything.
That belief has shaped every step of my journey: tutoring English, mentoring entrepreneurs, building tools that make learning easier. Each project brought me closer to one truth - great technology can reinforce education and serve people like you, me and the kids of the future.
ReadQuest is the next chapter. We're using AI to bring joy back into classrooms, to give teachers their time back, and to help kids rediscover the magic I felt reading under that tree. Because when a story clicks, a spark ignites - and that spark can take them anywhere.
Jin Lee
I just really like to read.